


A Serious Case of Déjà Vu

by FleetingLightofNight



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, Another dog??? YES!!!, F/M, Gen, Nonbinary Character, Romance, Second Person, more tags to be added as the story progresses
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-10-25
Updated: 2015-11-02
Packaged: 2018-04-27 23:44:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 12,665
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5069494
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FleetingLightofNight/pseuds/FleetingLightofNight
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Reader is thrust into the world of Undertale as a companion to Frisk. The story will work along with UT's plot, with appropriate changes concerning the presence of the Reader (and their dog), with quite a bit of focus on the relationship between the Reader and Sans. <b> UPDATE 9-19-16</b> This fic has been abandoned. There will be no more updates. Thanks for all your support!</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Down the Hole We Fall

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys!
> 
> Yes, I'm also guilty of having a crush on the short, chubby skeleton. Sue me. I thought I'd take a crack at writing my own fic with a reader insert, since I've never tried that before.  
> I know other people have posted stories with a companion to Frisk as well, and I just want to make clear I have no intention of copying anyone else's work, it's just a super fun idea to play with. The Reader has no relation to Frisk though, so lots of confusion and wonder abounds!  
> The rating may change as future chapters are added. 
> 
> And yes, the Reader is and will continue to be left with an ambiguous gender. The Reader will never have an explicit name, either.

You were just trying to help. 

That was the thought that swirled around in your head over and over as a flower (with a face!?) sent bullets after you. Er, your heart. Soul? You hadn’t exactly listened intently to its speech, being far too interested by the fact that a flower had popped out of ground and started talking to you. 

You glanced over at the passed out kid on the ground every now and then during your dancing away from the bullets, secretly hoping they would wake up and ambush the flower, but knowing that in the end they’d probably just get hurt. You had to handle this one yourself. 

“Hurry up and DIE. You’re the least of my concerns!” It hissed at you, forming a circle of bullets around your soul and coming closer… closer… closer…

You shut your eyes tight, praying to whatever or whoever would listen and save you from this unexpected fate, when- Well, nothing happened.  
You opened an eye to peek out at the murderous Flowey, only to find a tall monster in its place. It had a look of concern on its face, and it bent forward towards you. 

Quickly taking a few steps back and eyeing the new monster suspiciously, you finally spoke for the first time since falling into the cavern, “S-stop. I don’t want to hurt you. We just fell in and…” You were shaking. The encounter with the flower had rattled you more than you originally thought, and your adrenaline decided this new encounter would be the best time to pack up and leave. 

“We?” The monster frowned, looking around and finally spotting the unconscious kid in the bed of flowers. It wasn’t until this moment that it occurred to you that Flowey could have friends, and you rushed over to them. The new monster kept talking as you checked for a heartbeat and other signs of life. “Oh, you poor children… That horrible creature attacked you as soon as you woke up, didn’t it?”

You pursed your lips a bit at being called a child, since you’d been anything but that for years, but figured it was better than being attacked and let it slide. After confirming that the kid was alright as far as you could tell besides not being conscious, you warily positioned yourself between them and the new monster. Best not to let your guard down just yet. “Yeah… I was on a hike with my dog and I saw the kid run by… Spot took off after them, so I did too and- Fuck, Spot!” You looked around frantically for your missing dog. The distraction of the monsters and the passed out kid had made you forget about him entirely. But with no sign of a dog’s body or footprints, you hoped he was just off exploring somewhere and nothing… worse had happened. 

The monster sighed, bringing your attention back to it. “I understand you are frightened, but I’d appreciate it if you watched your language while staying with me.” 

“Uh, what?” You were certainly not expecting those words to come out of its mouth. 

“I walk by here every day to check for fallen humans. It can be dangerous if you aren’t familiar with the world down here. My name is Toriel. I can offer you a safe place to stay.” Toriel smiled warmly. 

So your suspicions were correct. You were in the place the humans had banished the monsters to so long ago. The monsters had been gone for so long that half of the planet had started thinking it was some myth believers took way too seriously. Most schools still taught the curriculum of the War of Humans and Monsters, though. Toriel certainly didn’t look like any of the horrifying pictures in the textbooks. You’d been taught they were evil, awful creatures, like Flowey, and humans had banished them for the safety of humankind. 

This ingrained prejudice and your encounter with Flowey kept you suspicious of Toriel, but you doubted you’d fare better without her, especially with the unconscious kid that you felt was your duty to protect without their parents around. 

You nodded after this mental deliberation, lifting the kid and cradling them against your chest. Damn, this kid really was small. As you walked with Toriel towards wherever it was she lived down here, you introduced yourself and finished the story about having fallen down the hole after the kid. Not on purpose, of course. Your plan had been to call for a rescue team after noting the depth of the hole, but the branch that tripped you had other plans. 

“Nnn…” The kid in your arms stirred, and you stopped to set them on the ground gently.

“Kid? Hey, take your time. Don’t move around too much.” 

The child smiled, reaching over and putting their too small hand on top of yours. The faintest voice came from their mouth. Too faint. You shook your head and glanced up to Toriel to see if she’d caught the words. 

The kid sat up and grabbed on to your shirt sleeve, pulling you down to their level so they could whisper in your ear. Their voice sounded happy, like little chimes telling you a secret. “Don’t be afraid of Tori, she’s really, really nice. And makes good pie.” 

You laughed a bit at that before confusion took over. How did they know the monster’s name? Did they come down here often? Did that mean they knew the way out? 

As you asked yourself these questions, the kid had gotten up and started chatting at Toriel. You caught that their name was Frisk. The two got along swimmingly, almost as if they knew each other. But Toriel was treating Frisk with the same polite and formal manner that she had treated you. Maybe Frisk had heard Toriel’s name while being passed out, and the rest was made-up, silly kid talk. 

Frisk smiled at you and took your hand when the monster said they should get going, that there was still a long walk back to her house. You smiled uncertainly back and let the kid keep hold of your hand. They seemed sweet, innocent, maybe a little mischievous like any other kid their age. 

You hoped Frisk was right about the pie. You could really use a break and some good food right about now.


	2. Monsters, Ghosts and Dogs! Oh My!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Frisk and the Reader continue to travel through the ruins without the help of Toriel, much to the Reader's annoyance.

“What do you mean you "have to go"?” You didn’t mean to snap as much as you did at Toriel, and Frisk tugged on your hand disapprovingly. You ignored the kid and stared Toriel down, forgetting for the moment that she was about twice your size in height and weight. Toriel’s frown deepened and her arm that was holding out the cellphone drooped. You didn’t know how safe you were with the monster to begin with, but you were betting your chances dropped regardless if she left the two of you alone. 

“I-I’m sorry, but it really is important. You two will be safe here if you just wait…” She started mumbling excuses, obviously not expecting her plan to be rejected. Frisk huffed in annoyance as you argued back about their safety and took the cellphone in your place, tilting their head up to smile encouragingly at Toriel. The monster returned the smile and patted Frisk gently on the head. “I will return for the both of you shortly. You will come to no harm if you remain here.” She stood up straighter, a certain regal air about her as she met your eyes again. “And I will hear no more backtalk about that. Please understand.” You were taken aback at her change in demeanor, suddenly finding you didn’t want to push her any farther. 

As you let Toriel walk out of the room without another objection, Frisk immediately dialed her number and started talking animatedly to her about when she picked up on the other end. Frisk hung up after about thirty seconds, waited a bit and called her again to talk about something else. This process repeated for quite a few times, making you wonder if it was such a good idea to give the cell to Frisk in the first place. But from the faint laughs you could hear of Toriel’s end of the conversation, you thought she was enjoying it. 

“Better company than me, anyway.” You grumbled under your breath as you slid down the wall to finally rest. You wondered if Toriel had noticed the way you angled yourself between her and the child during the walk together. Or the way you never completely relaxed no matter how it was hard not to act that way around her. 

As if Frisk had heard your thoughts, they paused in their cellphone shenanigans and looked over at you with an odd wise look in their eyes, far too old for someone their age. “You won’t always hate them.” They said simply. 

You furrowed your eyebrows and met their stare. “What?”

“You won’t always hate the monsters,” Frisk repeated, as if you hadn’t understood what they were referring to. Your question had been directed towards the word choice in Frisk’s prediction itself. It wasn’t that you hated Tori or any of the other monsters you’d come across so far. (Well, maybe the flower.) It’s just that you had only been down here for a couple hours, you couldn’t really make a judgement call on the whole thing yet considering this was the first break you had to stop and really just think. Maybe the kid just didn’t know enough vocabulary words to address what Frisk was actually talking about. Maybe you sh-

“Okay, we have to go now.” Frisk was tugged on your arm, snapping you out of your thoughts. You really had to stop doing that in a place like this. 

“Wait, what?” You stood up as Frisk tried pulling you towards the door. “No, Toriel told us to wait here, Frisk. We can’t go out there on our own, who knows what we’ll run into without her around.” 

Frisk huffed impatiently and crossed their arms across the chest, tapping their foot on the ground. You cracked a smile at the sight, relieved she was finally acting like the little tyke she was supposed to be. They appeared to make a decision and shoved the phone into your hands. “She’s not answering her cellphone.” You blinked, wondering if Frisk knew that people, probably monsters too, had better things to do besides answering the call of a seven year old every couple of minutes. Frisk groaned and grabbed at your arm again. “Come oooooon, that’s when we’re supposed to go.” 

Did the kid ever say anything that made sense? 

You dialed Toriel’s number and heard the other end ring twice, before being answered and… Was that the sound of a snore? Did she fall asleep or something? If she was, maybe it wasn’t such a good idea to stick around in an unfamiliar place filled with monsters. They were making an awful lot of noise, after all. 

Frisk smiled when you met their eyes again, as if they knew you had finally given in and skipped into the next room. You called after them as you followed, “You stay close to me, you hear? Do not leave my sight!” You winced. Geez, when did you start sounding like a parent. You wondered vaguely if yours would even notice your disappearance. 

***

Frisk had some kind of magic touch when it came to dealing with the monsters. They gave compliments to each of the Froggits that hopped by, laid down with each Moldsmal they found (which was a little weird, but everything about this situation was already weird), gave every Misgosp some alone time. Every time you tensed up ready to defend yourself and the kid from the next monster, Frisk was already ahead of you, dodging attacks and appeasing each monster so they could spare it. You weren’t a fan of violence, so this wasn’t an issue as long as Frisk managed to stay unharmed. Each encounter made you feel a bit more at ease about taking the peaceful route. None of the monsters were especially threatening, so you’d feel bad attacking them anyway. You couldn’t help but feel a little useless, though. Weren’t you the one that was supposed to take care them? 

Every time an encounter was over, Frisk would smile, walk back to you and take your hand again before walking on. Yeah, the kid was definitely doing all the heavy work around here. You resigned yourself to the passive role grudgingly, making a mental note to be the adult you were when they reached a situation that required your “wisdom”. 

 

Luckily life also seemed to agree it was time for you to pull your weight, and you walked into the next room to find your dog chasing what could only be described as a ghost. It was screaming at the volume of a whisper, obviously being terrorized by the mutt, just barely keeping ahead of Spot. Spot, for his part, seemed to be having the time of his life, and kept barking excitedly, not hindered at all by the leash dragging on the ground behind him. 

You deadpanned. 

This whole damn time you’d been worried about surviving and getting out the Ruins, and Spot decided to flip the roles in life and spend his time scaring a ghost, and who knows what else, instead of staying with and protecting his master. 

“Human’s best friend, my ass.” You muttered under your breath and chased after his leash. Frisk was giggling at the sight of a three perso- er, creature, chase going on. At least someone was having fun. 

You snatched the end of the leash up in your hand, putting Spot’s adventure to an abrupt end. He jerked to a halt, panting, now completely uninterested in the ghost and jumped up in an attempt to lick your face in greeting. You rolled your eyes and pushed him down on the ground, deciding to deal with the poor victim of this whole fiasco before scolding your dog. 

The ghost was staring at you with wide eyes. “Uh,” You started out, eloquent as always. “I’m really sorry about my dog. He likes to chase anything that moves. That’s kinda how we got caught up in this whole thing in the first place.” 

The ghost kept staring. 

“Uh…” You glanced at Frisk, who simply nodded their head in encouragement as if this was class about how to get along with monsters. “Are you okay?” You paused, then added as an afterthought, “What’s your name?” 

The ghost finally shyly looked away and answered in a soft, wavering voice, “Napstablook… I’m fine… It’s… nice to meet nice people…” 

You nodded, pleased with yourself that the ghost had responded positively. “Well, Napstablook, it’s nice to meet you too. You seem awfully nice yourself.” 

“Oh… Do I…? Oh gee…..” Napstablook smiled a bit, then faded away. 

You looked back at Frisk, who had wandered over to start patting Spot. “Where’d the ghost ago?” 

Frisk shrugged, giggling again when Spot licked their face, leaving a trail of drool behind. “Ghosts disappear.” They said matter-of-factly, like you’d asked a question with an obvious answer. Then turned to ask earnestly, “Can I walk Spot?” 

Spot started turning in circles excitedly at the sound of his name, and you handed the reins over to Frisk almost immediately. Spot was pretty small after all, Frisk could probably handle it. “Just make sure you keep a tight grip, okay? He’s small, but he’s a wily little fella.” 

Frisk smiled and took the leash from you, already getting pulled ahead by Spot. “Just like me!” They exclaimed. 

You chuckled at Frisk’s declaration. Yeah, that sounded like a pretty good description for Frisk so far. 

“Come on! We gotta go to the spider bake sale before we go home to Tori!” 

You immediately dropped your grin. No one had said anything about spider monsters. 

***

 

The cider was surprisingly refreshing, considering it was made by spiders. And that you were deathly afraid of spiders. And that Frisk had managed to make you try the cider. They hadn’t seemed at all surprised when you admitted this fear to them. Maybe this kid just had a good poker face, you reasoned. They always seemed to know too much. 

Frisk insisted on shoving the donut into your small fanny pack before they continued on. They wouldn’t say way, just that they needed to hold on to it for the future. You made a face as you thought about that donut rotting next to your most valuable items, including your inhaler. Hopefully Frisk meant the future as in lunch. 

But after a few more corridors they had finally, finally reached what you assumed was Toriel’s house. Your guess was confirmed as Toriel came walking out and looked surprised to see the three of you at her door step. 

“Oh, hello!” She exclaimed, happily bending down to receive the hug Frisk thrust on her. “I didn’t realize… I’m so sorry. My phone was taken by a dog so I hope everything went alright.” 

You glared suspiciously down at Spot, who was pulling forward on his leash to try and greet Toriel. Frisk had gotten tired of walking the handful of a dog after five minutes after their request, leaving you stuck with him. 

“Please, come in! I have a surprise for the both of you!” You sighed in relief, happy to finally have someplace safe to rest in the Ruins. You moved to go inside behind Toriel, but paused because Frisk hadn’t budged from beside the house. 

“You okay, Frisk?” They were staring awfully hard up at the house. After a beat, she lost her concentrated look and smiled up at you. 

“Yeah! Everyone is happy this time.” You frowned at that answer as Frisk took your hand and walked inside with you and Spot, reassuring you that the surprise was going to be good. 

You had an itch at the back of your brain, an itch you couldn’t scratch. You reached for it, trying to figure out what the hell was so weird about what Frisk said, what they had been saying this whole time. But you were distracted by the delicious smell of cinnamon and butterscotch, and dropped the search in favor of making your stomach happy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for continuing to read my story! 
> 
> I've committed to writing every day, and this is my current project, so expect frequent updates to this fic. I expect Sans and Papyrus will show up in the next chapter, or perhaps the one after that. Just thought I'd let you skelebro fans know, especially since this IS a Sans/Reader fic. ;)


	3. The Monster in You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Toriel doesn't want you to leave. Time for your first boss fight.

Maybe the kid was just psychic. 

You mused over this idea as you took another bite of the, quite delicious, pie. (When Toriel mentioned she often made pastries and other food with snails, you were even more grateful she’d decided to go with the butterscotch-cinnamon pie.) You’d never been much of a believer in psychic abilities, but Frisk always seemed one step ahead in this foreign world, and having the ability to predict the future would definitely put one at ease here. 

Spot nosed at your leg, begging like he always did at home for a scrap or two. You tossed him a piece of the crust and affectionately rubbed his head, whispering, “Glad you’re alright, Spotty… Stay close to me while we’re down here.” Spot whined in response, pawing at your leg for more. 

Frisk tugged at your shirt sleeve again on your other side, and you shifted your body to them. They were rubbing at their left eye sleepily as they said, “’M gonna take a nap.” 

You smiled, “Sounds like you could definitely use one.” You glanced down at Spot. “Wanna take him with you? He’s a good cuddler.” The house seemed safe enough, but you’d feel better with Spot playing guard dog with Frisk while you stayed out here. Toriel had been nothing but kind to you after bringing the three of you in it. Even now, she was sitting in her armchair reading a book about snails. Her intentions seemed genuine, but you didn’t want to let your guard down and trust her just yet. She was a monster, after all. There was a reason they were all trapped down here. 

Frisk brightened and unwound the leash from around the kitchen table’s leg, leading Spot down the hall towards the spare bedroom Toriel had said the two of you could use while staying here. You watched them until they had shut the door, then turned back to finish your slice of pie, which was getting more heavenly with each bite. 

“I have many books here, if you’d like to read one.” Toriel chimed in after you’d finished your last bite. She was smiling at you. Your stomach flipped with guilt every time you made eye contact with her now. You felt bad for being so suspicious still after being given shelter and food. “Frisk will probably be asleep for a while.”  
“Oh, sure… That’d be great.” You responded, picking up the used plate and carrying it to the kitchen sink. You dutifully washed your plate and Frisk’s before heading back into her living room, noting the amount of pie still left untouched. That’d be enough food to feed the both of you for a week. 

On the table were a selection of books Toriel had picked out for you to peruse. The majority of them had titles that usually contained some variation of “The History of Monsters”. There were a few books thrown in about snails as well. You looked over at Toriel, who was watching you examine the titles. 

“Please excuse my pushing, but you seemed… very distrustful of everyone and everything around you out in the ruins. I find that books are the best teachers when it comes to the unknown.” Your heart sunk at her words. She knew how you felt, the whole time, and she was still being so nice. How could you have ever been suspicious of Toriel? Your face reddened in embarrassment and you nodded meekly, grabbing the nearest history text and sitting down with it. She laughed softly and continued in her sweet voice, “My child, it is nothing to be ashamed of. You have known the above ground world longer than any human to have come through here. It is understandable that-”

“Wait, you’ve had other humans here?” You interrupted. Toriel’s face grew blank and she returned her focus to her own book. 

She said curtly before you could press her for more information, “Yes. And they left.” 

“Toriel…” You started, wondering how to break the news to her that you and Frisk wouldn’t be staying either, when she stood up and said she was going to check in on Frisk. 

You sighed, pulling the book closer to you and opening it to the first page. She probably already knew. You’d continue the conversation about how to get to the surface after Frisk woke up. 

You hadn’t planned on falling asleep yourself. 

The book wasn’t boring so much as every book you ever stuck in your hands always seemed to lull you to sleep. It made getting through school a nightmare, but besides standing up while reading, nothing else kept books from working their magic on you. You’d gotten the gist that the monsters feared humans due to some kind of power before passing out at Toriel’s table. 

Spot’s barking was what snapped you awake, and your ears were attacked by the noise of a great commotion. You heard Frisk distantly yelling something desperately, their voice getting further and further away. Spot was barking ferociously at you from the top of the stairs in the next room, evidently trying to get you to follow. 

As soon as you got to your feet and headed towards the stairs, Spot bounded down them himself, the barking never ceasing. Spot was a pain in the ass sometimes, but he knew when to cut the crap and alert you in serious situations. You raced after him, seeing two figures you assumed were Frisk and Toriel far, far down the end of a dark hallway.  
What the hell was this place, anyway? It felt like a tomb. 

“…not try to stop me. This is your final warning.” Toriel’s voice carried down the hall, mixing in with the echoes of Spot’s barks. Frisk was standing resolutely in front of Toriel at the end of the hallway. You saw them clearly shake their head. 

No. Frisk wasn’t budging from whatever they were discussing. 

You finally reached them, grabbing Spot’s leash and putting a hand on Frisk’s shoulder. Spot had stopped barking, switching to a pitiful whine. Toriel looked the two of you over with a cold eye, so unlike her previous demeanor. Something was wrong, something had happened between the two of them. 

Finally Toriel closed her eyes, her shoulders drooping forward. Her voice sounded strangled, like she didn’t want to say her next words. “You two want to leave so badly? You hate it here so much?” She raised her head and opened her eyes, but didn’t look at either of you, looking above, beyond. Like you weren’t even there. 

You whispered to Frisk. “What’s happening? What were you two talking about?”

Frisk was clutching the bottom of their shirt, refusing to look up at you. “I told her we need to go home…” Dammit. The kid had done your job yet again. You silently cursed yourself for sleeping through that conversation and turned your attention to Toriel. 

“Toriel, please understand. We appreciate everything you’ve done for us. We don’t hate it here but this is not our… We need to get back to the surface. We don’t belong here.” Frisk looked up at that last comment, frowning. “Frisk’s parents are probably worried sick and-”

Toriel’s voice cut through yours like a sharp knife. “You are just like the others. There is only one solution to this. Prove yourself…” Fire started gathering around her hands. You felt Frisk’s tiny hands pushing at your stomach, pushing you away from Toriel. “Prove to me you are strong enough to survive.” 

It was the first time you ever felt your soul take damage. You had been expecting attacks from the flower, you’d expected it from every other monster you came across, you’d always managed to dodge. But even with how upset Toriel was, even with her words, you hadn’t expected her to just attack the two of you like that. Not with Frisk there, the apple of Toriel’s eye. 

And it hurt. A lot. You fell backwards, coughing and trying to understand what just happened. Your soul, the glowing pink heart in front of you, shined a little less brightly than before, and you knew in your head just how many more attacks of that you could take. 

You wanted to lash back at Toriel. You felt betrayed, angry. How dare she do this to you two? She claimed to want to take care of you, she fed, she forgave you for your prejudice and then she- You hated her. You hatED HE-  
But before you could move to strike back, Frisk was there, her fingers wrapped tight around your right wrist, and you hadn’t even realized your hand had formed a fist. 

“Tori doesn’t mean it.” They whispered. “She’s lonely.” 

It felt like someone had just shoved you into an ice cold shower. Where had that anger come from? They could work this out with Toriel. They didn’t have to resort to violence. 

Frisk’s deep frown lessened and they stepped back, turning to Tori and informing her quietly that they didn’t want to fight her. Toriel didn’t respond, but sent more of her fire magic at the two of you. You followed Frisk’s lead and dodged where they dodged. The kid seemed to know where each attack was going to hit. Add that to more proof of them being psychic. 

Frisk repeated their unwillingness to fight. 

Silence. 

“I don’t want to fight you.”

More fire. More silence.

You chimed in. “Please Toriel, we don’t have to do this.” Frisk nodded approvingly. 

Toriel faltered for a bit. “I know you two want to go home but… Please go upstairs. I promise I will take good care of you here.” 

Neither of you budged. Even Spot sat quietly. 

Fire, dodge, plead. 

More fire, follow Frisk’s lead, ask for her to stop. 

Over, and over, with Toriel insisting on you calling this place your home. 

Until finally, she stopped, laughing sadly to herself. 

“Pathetic, is it not?” She whispered. “I knew you’d want to leave but,” She glanced at you and back at Frisk, “I also cannot save even a single child.” 

“Torie-” 

“No, I understand. You would just be unhappy trapped down here. The Ruins are very small once you get used to them. It would not be right to keep you here…” She slumped down on herself again. “My expectations… My loneliness… My fear… For you, my children… I will put them aside.” 

Your souls disappeared, back inside your bodies, you supposed. Toriel collected herself and said more clearly and loudly, “If you truly wish to leave the Ruins, I will not stop you. However, when you leave...” Her voice caught before she continued, “Please do not come back. I hope you understand.” 

Frisk rushed forward and hugged her, and Toriel bent down to return the hug, before slowly pulling away and walking back to her house. When she looked back at the two of you, she paused, as if hoping that maybe you’d change your minds. When you didn’t move towards her, she looked away and kept on towards her home. Alone. “Goodbye, my children…” She called softly. 

You found a warm tear escape one of your eyes, which you brushed away slowly, turning to Frisk. “We should go, huh?” 

They nodded, as determined and sure as always. But before they took your hand to move on, they looked at Toriel’s retreating figure one last time. You wondered what was going through that kid’s head. For as much as they knew and how confidently they held themselves, they never really let on much about how they felt about being down in the underground. You wondered if they were scared. Maybe they weren’t old enough to know that this place was dangerous. The soul fighting did seem like the battle sequence of a video game. 

“Please don’t hate them.” Frisk said suddenly, looking up at you. “Don’t fight them.” 

You were taken aback at Frisk’s expression, at their wavering voice. This whole time you’d been wondering if anything frightened them, and here they were… fear finally in their eyes. 

But it was directed at you.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you once again for reading! I always appreciate it!
> 
> I purposely left out any items that you can find up to this point just to save time. Plus it's scarier and more barbaric that someone would want to beat someone to death instead of using a knife, even if it's made out of plastic. 
> 
> Next chapter will finally show the Skelebros~


	4. The Familiar Sound of Puns

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As you continue your journey with Frisk, you encounter a short skeleton with an unfortunate love of puns.

A muffled, dark laugh interrupted your conversation. Frisk didn’t seem as unsettled by this noise. They just sighed and turned to the door that separated you from the haunting sound. You hesitated. Maybe it would be better to wait it out at Toriel’s after all… 

Spot made the decision for you by running at the door, shoving it open, barking, and disappeared into the darkness beyond. 

“Shit!” You took hold of Frisk’s hand tightly and pushed open the door after your dog. It crossed your mind to somehow tie the end of the leash through a belt loop in your jeans when you finally got the thing, when you stopped short at the sight of a familiar, golden flower. Of course, there was no sign of the mutt. 

“So, you decided not to kill her this time?” It asked sweetly, its face covered with a dark grin.“How nice of you.” 

“What are you talking about?” You snapped, trying not to let your fear show. You survived its attacks last time, you could take it on again if you needed to.  
It laughed that horrible laugh again. “Of course, of course. It must be nice not to remember. Ignorance is soooo bliss~” 

Frisk’s grip tightened around your hand. They shook their head furiously and started pulling you around Flowey. Flowey, oddly, wasn’t attacking. It just watched your path with that same sick grin. You knew you should just ignore it, like Frisk was. They hadn’t been wrong yet. But that same itch started bothering you again, and you couldn’t help but push. 

You stopped walking, much to Frisk’s displeasure. “I’ve never killed anyone before. You have me confused with someone else.” 

Flowey’s smile grew, pleased that you’d taken the bait. “I have to wonder… Who will fall victim to you this time?” Flowey’s eyes fell on Frisk. “I have my hopes on a certain little someone.” 

You narrowed your eyes, your inner instinct to protect children growing inside your chest. “Don’t you touch them.” Frisk’s insistent tugging increased in strength. 

More echoed laughter. “I won’t be the one to lay a finger on them.” And with that ominous comment, it disappeared into the ground. You gave in to Frisk’s pulling and finally followed them through the door. Frisk refused to stop, and they didn’t seem much for conversation at the moment. They just steadily moved forward, unphased by the encounter, their hand always clasped tightly against yours. 

 

The silence didn’t help the dark thoughts bouncing around in your mind. You weren’t a murderer. You would’ve never killed Toriel during the battle. You were just angry. You weren’t going to hurt her. 

You kept repeating this to yourself. But the small part of you that wasn’t so sure only grew as you tried to recall the battle. You’d been filled with such rage that you weren’t used to. Your hands had curled up into weapons with such ease, like it was something you’d done before. You had wanted Toriel to hurt just like she hurt you. You’d wanted to… to…

…

When did it get so cold?

You looked up from the ground and finally took in the scenery around you. There was snow everywhere. The cold seeped in under your skin and you pulled your free arm up against your chest to retain some warmth. You looked down at Frisk, who was watching your face, the fear still in their eyes. 

Well, it was time to reassure them. You wondered if you could. 

You crouched down in front of them, taking both of their hands in yours. “Listen, Frisk… I’m not going to hurt you, okay? We’re friends now, and we’re going to get out of here together. I promise you.” 

Frisk stared at you, unconvinced. You bit your lip as you racked your brain for something to do or say to convince the kid that a talking, murderous flower couldn’t possibly know anything about you. You decided to try something a little cliché. 

You held your right hand out, making a fist except for your pinky. “Frisk,” You declared dramatically, “As your friend, I pinky swear that I will not hurt you, or anybody else down here.”  
You paused, then added as a reassurance, “Monsters included.” 

Frisk’s face brightened at this gesture, and they took your pinky in theirs, bubbling out in excitement, “You’ve never made a pinky promise with me before!” 

You laughed at that weird observation. Of course you hadn’t, you’d only known the kid for a few hours. As you stood back up and kept on walking with the now happier Frisk, you hoped silently that you wouldn’t have to break your promise. Hurting someone wasn’t exactly something you wanted to do, but if there were more monsters like Flowey down the line, you weren’t sure you could keep up the peaceful act. 

Paw prints started showing up along the path, steadily heading straight down it. At least Spot had the sense to stay out of the deep snow. The poor thing would sink in it and never be able to find his way out. 

Frisk started chatting happily to you about the different dogs they’d come across in their life, which was a lot surprisingly, considering how young they were. “…and my favorite was the one who had lots of spots. A lot more than Spot has!” 

Well, Spot only had one black spot on his brown fur. It wasn’t hard to have more spots than him. You nodded anyway to show you were listening. The conversation was cut short by a loud ‘SNAP’ coming from behind you. 

“Who’s there?” You called out, turning around to look for the source of the noise. Everything was as still as a picture, but the stick you had passed earlier was broken into pieces. You pulled Frisk closer to you before you kept walking, cautiously this time. “Let me know if you see anything, Fr-”

The sound of footsteps, distinctly not Frisk’s light gait or your steady shuffling, echoed around the woods. You stopped again, throwing a glance behind you to once again see nothing. A chill went down your spine as you looked out at the imposing forest. Anything could jump out at you right now. A feeling of dread weighed you down as you both continued forward. Now would be a good time to find Spot. 

You reached a bridge, and that’s when it happened. 

“H u m a n s. Don’t you know how to greet a new pal? Turn around and shake my hand.” 

You turned around alright, taking in the shadowy figure in front of you. You reached out to Frisk to pull them away from it, but Frisk was already grabbing at the thing’s hand. A loud, wet noise filled your ears. 

Frisk was laughing. You leaned in to get a closer look, disbelieving what you recognized to be the distinct sound of- 

“The old whoopee cushion in the hand trick… It’s always funny.” The monster before you stepped into the light, stuffing the offending hand back into its jacket pocket. Its deep voice continued, low and slow, as if it had all the time in the world with this conversation, “Anyway, you’re humans, right?” Its grin grew. “Heh… Two of you. That’s hilarious. I’m Sans, Sans the skeleton.”

There was a pause, and you frowned, not finding the situation as funny as he seemed to. The lights of his eyes met yours. An amused chuckle came from the skeleton, like a rumble in the earth. He leaned towards you and stage whispered, “I think this is the part where you tell me your names.” 

“I’m Frisk!” Piped up the kid, friendly waving at the skeleton. He pulled his hand back out and waved back, then tilted his head towards you. He addressed Frisk with his next words, “Since your friend isn’t talking, I’m going to go out on a limb and guess this is Frolic.” 

You found your voice then, “Was that supposed to be a joke?” 

He shrugged. “Not my best.” His left eye socket closed in a wink, and his voice lowered. “Guess I’ll have to try harder to hit your funny bone.” 

Heat rose to your cheeks, and you quickly cleared your throat and introduced yourself. Your stomach knotted in a way that felt faintly familiar as you continued to take in his features; his lazy smile, his jacket that swallowed him and made him appear large in an unassuming way, how he held himself, not exactly your stereotypically confident way, but there was no doubt he felt at ease. 

The way he met your eyes. 

It filled you with… 

Something. 

But you had somewhere to be, and trying to reach further to identify what the hell your mind was doing in the background of your thought process wasn’t on the top of your list of priorities; getting out of here was. 

“Hilarious. Now could you point us toward the exit?” 

“You know what else is funny?” He continued, blatantly ignoring your question. “I’m actually supposed to be on watch for humans.” You took a half-step back, not having enough time to determine if you should panic or not before he continued talking, “But I don’t really care about capturing anybody.” You sighed, and relief pushed away the rising panic. But, of course, it evaporated as soon as he spoke his next words. You noticed that he paused a bit longer, and if you didn’t know any better, he was smirking in anticipation of your next reaction. “Now, my brother, Papyrus? Well, he’s a human hunting FANATIC.” 

“W-what?” You imagined the human’s world version of hunting; heads of every human that passed through here lining the walls of this skeleton Papyrus’ house, dark laughter after a successful hunt, the running you’d have to push yourself to do to barely get away. 

“Hm, actually… I think that’s him over there.” Sans pointed behind you, and you whipped around, expecting to see a huge skeleton with blazing red eyes and knives in each hand. But all you could manage to spot was a tiny figure off in the distance. It could be anything. Maybe Sans was just pulling your leg. 

Well, he didn’t pull your leg, but he did start pushing you and Frisk across the bridge, through the wide set bars. He was stronger than he looked. “Don’t worry, I’ve got a great idea. Go hide behind that conveniently shaped lamp.” 

There was, in fact, a conveniently shaped lamp that would perfectly hide the two of you. Its base was wide and the shade reached up past your head. Wondering what the hell a lamp was doing in the middle of a bunch of snow and why you were being told to hide behind that instead of the much bigger fort just beyond the lamp quelled your fear enough to throw an “Are you kidding me?” expression at the skeleton. Frisk had the honors of pulling you behind the lamp, the tinkle of their giggle secretive and quieter than usual, like a child would laugh during a game of hide and seek. 

“Isn’t this fun?” They whispered. You couldn’t help the edges of your lips pulling up at their happy face. 

“Yeah, I guess so.” 

Sans grinned at you one more time before turning to face the oncoming figure. Which it turned out to be Papyrus exactly as he’d said. You wondered if skeletons had better eyesight than you did, and couldn’t help but chuckle at the irony of that idea. 

Papyrus heard you. 

“Sans, what was that? I could have sworn I distinctly heard that lamp laugh!” You flinched. His voice was booming to say the least. Unfortunately, from the way Sans didn’t react to the volume of it, this was the way he probably talked all the time. You waited with bated breath for the brother to find you and Frisk hiding. 

“Yeah? I didn’t hear anything. Guess I’ve been working so hard out here I’ve exhausted my hearing.” 

“W- That doesn’t even make sense! You just heard what I said!” Papyrus’ voice somehow got even louder, “And besides I know for a fact that you haven’t been working! It’s been eight days and you still haven’t recalibrated your puzzles!!! What have you even been doing out here?” 

“Staring at this lamp. It’s really cool.” Came Sans’ reply. Your narrowed your eyes. He wasn’t about to rat the two of you out after going through the effort of hiding you, right? “Wanna look?” 

You made a silent vow to yourself to give the damn skeleton a piece of your mind if you got away undetected. 

“No! I don’t want to look at a lamp, I have a job to do! What if a human comes through here?” I want to be ready!” Papyrus continued to preach about his greatness and capturing humans. You tuned him out to check in on Frisk, who was still grinning ear to ear. 

They stretched up on their tip toes to ask in barely in a whisper, “Isn’t Papyrus so cool?” 

You made a face at the question. Cool wasn’t exactly the word you’d use to describe him. Loud, definitely. But after listening to what he said underneath the volume, you certainly didn’t fear for your life as much as you did a few minutes ago. You peeked out the tiniest bit behind the lamp, catching Sans’ eye. Which is how you knew what would come next. 

“…bathe in a shower of kisses every morning!” Papyrus finished dramatically.

“Hm…” Sans pretended to think for a second. “Maybe this lamp will help you.” 

You pursed your lips. That was strike two. 

“Sans! You are not helping!” Papyrus started stomping his foot into the snow. “You lazybones! All you do is sit and boondoggle! You get lazier and lazier every day!” 

“Hey, take it easy. I’ve gotten a ton of work done today.” Sans drawled, not helping the lazy accusation just thrown at him. He paused before directing a wink in your direction. “A skele-ton.” 

It came, vividly, in your mind’s eye. A memory of something too distant. Everything else disappeared around you and the voices consumed your focus. 

_“I’ve heard that one before.”_  
_“Only so many puns you can tell about bones before they repeat, sweetheart.”_  
_“And here I was thinking you were the King of Bone Puns.”_  
_“No king is perfect.”_

Then it was ripped away violently, blankness taking its place. You forgot it immediately, and as your attention came back to the present, it was as if it had never happened. 

“SANS! That wasn’t funny! The lamp didn’t even laugh this time!” Papyrus exclaimed. You agreed with Papyrus, it was the opposite of funny, but found yourself amused by the louder skeleton’s words. 

“Aw, come on. You’re smiling.” He was looking at you when he said that. You forced your mouth back into a scowl on principle. 

“I AM AND I HATE IT.” Papyrus sighed deeply, dramatically. “Why does someone as great as me have to do so much just to get some recognition…?”

“Wow, sounds like you’re really working yourself…” You cursed under your breath, knowing what was coming next. Didn’t the guy have better jokes to tell? Sure enough, he turned, winked, and finished the joke, “Down to the bone.” 

Frisk tugged sharply at your shirt, frowning in disapproval. You sighed and mouthed an apology for letting the bad word slip. 

“Ughhhhh!” Papyrus threw his hands up into the air. “I’ve had enough of this! I will now attend to my puzzles! As for your work…” He didn’t pause nearly long enough for the delivery. “Put a little more BACKBONE into it! Nyeh hehehehe!” 

Heavy footsteps took off back to where they came, and you stood there, disbelieving everything that had just taken place. When you stepped behind this lamp, you were terrified for your life. And as you stepped out of it, you found yourself checking for prank show cameras. This underground world kept surprising you. 

Frisk didn’t seem to have a problem with the current situation though, and started skipping around, already restless from having to hold still for that short amount of time. You eyed the lamp again, noting the plug sat by itself in the snow, clearly not attached to any source of power, and that the shade didn’t even have a bulb under it. 

You had a lot of questions you needed to ask Sans, and more importantly give him a piece of your mind for messing with you the whole time you were hiding. But one thought took priority over everything else as you eyed the lamp again, noting the plug sat by itself in the snow, clearly not attached to any source of power, and that the shade didn’t even have a bulb under it. 

The question was out of your mouth before you could stop it. “What’s the point of having a lamp out here if it doesn’t even work?” 

His expression changed to the one he got right before he told a god awful pun. You were going to have to hear another one of the damn things and not get a straight answer. Oh god, it wasn’t worth it anymore. You rushed to interrupt him before he could say it. 

“Never mind, I don-”

“Sometimes I like to be de-lighted.” 

You resisted the urge to both punch him in the face and slap yourself for walking right into one. You crossed your arms across your chest, forcing a serious expression on your face. He was unimpressed with this. “Look, ‘Sans the skeleton’. Thank you for hiding us, but we still need directions for how to get out of here. Do we just follow the path or is there somewhere else we need to go?”

Frisk skipped past him, humming merrily. They were unusually happy, even for being a relatively cheerful child. You added talking to them onto your growing to do list. Sans watched them, taking his time in answer. When he did, it was with the same laid back voice as before. “No need tibia so formal. Just Sans is fine.” He nodded past you, towards the path. “Follow the path.” 

You groaned out loud this time, not sure if voicing your displeasure at the puns would spare you or doom you in the future, and gestured for Frisk to come in your direction. “Come on, Frisk. Let’s get out of here before we have to sit through more of his hilarious jokes.” 

Even Frisk was able to sense your sarcasm. “I like his jokes.” They defended, strolling over to you. Great, you were outnumbered. 

“Heh, thanks kid. I’m here all week.” 

“Traitor.” You muttered under your breath. 

Frisk waved goodbye, but before the two of you could take ten steps towards the exit, Sans spoke up again. 

“Actually, hey… Hate to bother ya, but could you do me a favor?” 

You decided to hear him out. He hadn’t attacked you after all, if you didn’t count his attacks on humor. “Depends, what is it?” You asked as you faced him again. You jumped a bit. He’d caught up to you really face in the time you were facing away. 

His amusement at your surprise didn’t deter him from his request. “I was thinking… My brother’s been kind of down lately.” He shrugged. “He’s never seen a human before. And seeing you might just make his day.” You opened your mouth to protest. Papyrus was a human hunting fanatic after all. Sans didn’t let you. “Don’t worry, he’s not dangerous. Even if he tries to be.” 

“Sure!” Frisk agreed. “I love doing puzzles!” 

Sans nodded. “Great. Thanks a million. I’ll be up ahead.” Then he turned on his heel and walked towards the opposite direction, back to where you and Frisk had come from originally. 

“Hey!” You yelled, the memory reminding you of something else you were supposed to be doing. “Have you seen a dog around here? He’s got one big spot on his left ear.” 

He laughed at the question, then started walking backwards before he said back, “Nah, not one that looks like that. I’ll keep an eye socket out for it though.” 

That was all you had time to talk to him about before he was out of distance to talk to. You huffed, annoyed that he hadn’t waited for an answer from you too. You were still a bit nervous about Papyrus. The flower had seemed harmless at first as well. Hopefully Frisk’s intuition would lead them well like it had so far. 

Sans didn’t seem dangerous either. Sure, he’d snuck up behind the two of you, but you assumed that was just to play off his prank properly. And his intentions were good if he really was just trying to cheer up his brother. But everything about Sans didn’t really add up properly, and you found yourself speaking your thoughts aloud. 

“What an odd guy…” You mumbled. 

Frisk sported a knowing smile. “You like him.” 

“What?” You’d just met Sans, you didn’t know if you liked him or not with how awfully he teased you while hiding behind them lamp. You humored Frisk. “Why do you say that?” 

“I can just tell.” They said conspiratorially. 

“Aw, come on. That’s not fair.” You complained as you started the trek with them towards Papyrus and his puzzles. “You’ve got to tell me something.” 

“Hmm…” They screwed up their face as they thought of something tangible to describe. “Well, what you just said!” 

Now you were really confused. “That he’s odd? That doesn’t exactly mean I like him.” 

They shook their head. “No, you said guy. Not monster.” 

“Huh… I didn’t realize.” Frisk had caught you off guard with that one. Before you could think more into it, they continued with another answer. 

“And, for a little bit. You weren’t scared.” 

“Oh.”

You watched Frisk, who had turned their attention to jumping into a particularly large snowbank and sinking down to waist-high. They laughed at this turn of events. 

Joy filled you for a moment as you thought about all the good things that had happened since falling down here; Toriel’s kind words and even sweeter pie, the strange but wondrous world of the underground, Frisk’s warm hand tucked tightly in yours, even your encounter with the skeleton brothers. Sure, it was a shitty situation to be stuck down here without a clear way back to the surface, but it hadn’t been a horrible experience. And Frisk was always the center of that happiness. You counted yourself lucky to have fallen down here with them out of everyone else in the world. 

Oddly, a part of you was starting to feel at home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The skelebros are here, yes!
> 
> If you find Sans doesn't say as many puns as he should, that would be because I share a hatred of puns along with the reader, so it's pretty painful for me to think up original ones. The de-lighted only came to me because it was obvious with the lamp nearby. So my apologies if you're a pun lover! I'll try to throw a BONE your way every now and then. 
> 
> Thank you so much for all the kudos and the comments, each one is appreciated! If you have any questions, please feel free to ask! This story has been a blast to write so far, so trust me, I'm always looking for time to type out the next chapter! Expect the next chapter soon!


	5. Save File 58: Living in Snowdin

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A look into one of the lives the Reader led with Frisk and the monsters of the Underground, before it was reset.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just to clarify, the only moment the Reader saw in the flashback was the moment with Sans. Anything before and after didn't strike her during that moment of deja vu. 
> 
> /THIS IS NOT WHAT HAPPENS IMMEDIATELY AFTER THE PREVIOUS CHAPTER, JUST A LOOK INTO THE PAST./

The sound of pots clanging together and Papyrus singing off-key woke you from a deep sleep with a start. Your hand flew up to your heart and you cursed. The banging and practically screeching continued, along with the static of the television that you hadn’t noticed. You glanced beside you to find Frisk somehow sleeping peacefully through it all. You slowly moved out from under the blanket and off the couch bed, tucking the blanket back under Frisk. They turned in their sleep with a soft huffing noise. 

You smiled and turned off the television to get rid of the buzzing at least, and went into the kitchen with your hands on your hips. “Papyrus!” You hissed. “Could you be a little quieter when making spa-”

How much damn spaghetti was he making? There were already plates and plates full of the stuff strewn around the kitchen. All covered with tin foil to keep it from spoiling. What a tragedy that would be. 

Unfortunately the foil wasn’t much of a deterrent for Spot’s consumption. He was chowing down on a plate out of Papyrus’ sight. You shook your head. No matter how much Papyrus experimented with his spaghetti, Spot was always his number one fan. 

That didn’t say much though, considering Spot regularly ate out of the trash can back on the surface. 

Papyrus turned and shouted your name enthusiastically. “GOOD MORNING! I HAVE MADE MUCH SPAGHETTI FOR-”

“Shhhh!” You made a gesture for him to lower his voice in case the shushing wasn’t enough. “Frisk is still sleeping.”

He switched to whisper shouting. Better, you supposed. “My apologies! Today is a cooking festival in Snowdin and I wish to show off the best spaghetti ever! I am making as much as possible because it will be such a hit!” He noticed Spot then. “HEY GET OUT OF HERE STOP EATING MY CUISINE, DOG!” 

You shushed him again, tugging at Spot’s collar to get him away from the ruined dish. Papyrus was still fuming. 

“There’s a cooking festival today?” You frowned. Papyrus hadn’t said anything about a cooking festival until today. Why would he keep a secret like this? _How_ could he, the guy who talked nonstop about every thought that passed through his mind? 

His mood changed instantly at your questioning. “Yes! I just put up the flyers today! I’m sure everyone will come! But I will still be victorious! Nyeh heh heh heh!” He jumped in delight and went back to his cooking. 

Well, that made sense. You wondered just how successful a last minute cooking contest would be. 

You sighed and went back into the living room, tugging Spot out of the kitchen and Papyrus’ metaphorical hair. You decided it would be easier to move Frisk elsewhere instead of trying to get Papyrus to be quiet. Spot whined pitifully. 

“Oh hush,” You chastised. “How about you go bother one of the guard dogs for a while.” You opened the door, and Spot took off excitedly towards the edge of town. Doggo wasn’t going to like that very much. You cracked a grin and shut the door. 

You lifted the sleeping child, blanket and all, into your arms slowly. Frisk tended to sleep through most things, but you didn’t want them to be up so early if you could help it. It wasn’t the first time you’d moved them from your couch bed to Papyrus’. 

As you laid them into the car bed, you smiled. It really was fitting for them to be in a car meant for children. It was nice to see them where they should be, if they were still on the surface. Moments like this reassured you that your choice to stay down here with Frisk in Snowdin had been a good one. 

You shut the door quietly behind you, finding yourself face to face with Sans. 

“Heya,” He grinned. “Hear about the cooking contest?”

You sighed, a bit exasperated. “How much spaghetti has he made so far?” You headed down the stairs to the couch bed. 

He followed behind you. “A skele-ton.” 

You snorted as you pushed the bed back into the form of a couch. “I’ve heard that one before.” 

He shrugged, plopping himself down on the couch the second you finished. “Only so many puns you can tell about bones before they repeat, sweetheart.”

You scooted in next to him, laying your head on his shoulder. “And here I was thinking you were the King of Bone Puns.” 

He pressed a chaste kiss to your head. His voice always seemed to reverberate through your body when you were so close to him. “No king is perfect.” 

You loved mornings like this. You traced your finger over the back of San’s hand, then picked it up and started playing with it, moving it this way and that, studying it. You two didn’t have much of a typical physical relationship like what is expected between two humans. It worked a bit differently; with you and Sans, it was more of an curious interest about the other’s body. How it worked, what the other could feel. More importantly, what felt pleasant. You knew from past experience with him that he was especially sensitive at the base of his skull. 

You were working your way up there with kisses, starting at his shoulder. But you were interrupted, as usual, by Papyrus. 

“SANS!” Papyrus yelled, alarm strangely lacing his voice. This was different. 

It caused you both to shoot up to a standing position instead of your usual sheepish grins. Sans teleported beside him. Your stomach twisted up at that. Sans didn’t ever outright admit to this power, and rarely did he use it in sight of someone else. Something was very wrong. 

Papyrus was rambling about something, no, someone coming over here. He was holding his cellphone out to Sans to show him something. “It’s my fault, Sans! The cooking contest! We have to hide them! Undy-”

“Don’t worry, bro. I got it. They’ll be fine.” Sans’ voice sounded strained though. They were talking about you and Frisk.

“What’s going on?” You asked, and their attention turned to you. As if they’d forgotten you were standing in the room. 

“We’re gonna hide you and Frisk for a while. There’s someone coming for the cooking contest that really shouldn’t see you two.” You knew that forced grin, and you could tell his body was tense despite his forced relaxed voice. 

You decided not to question this further, not now anyway. You nodded. “I’ll… I’ll go get Frisk.” You hurried up the stairs and into Papyrus’ room. 

Frisk was still sleeping peacefully. You shook them, whispering. “Frisk, honey, you need to get up. We have to go.” 

Frisk woke up slowly, blinking sleep out of their eyes. “What’s going on?” 

“Someone- Someone’s… We need to hide, okay?” You didn’t want to frighten Frisk. But what you said was enough. Their uncanny way of knowing things seemed to fill them in on the rest. Their eyes grew wide with fear. 

“No… No she’s not supposed to come here.” Tears welled up in their eyes. “I messed up again.”

“What?” You pulled them against you. “No, you didn’t do anything, Frisk. But right now we need to go, okay?” 

Frisk shook their head in response to your words, but allowed you to pull them from the room and out to the stairs. Unfortunately, with your concern for Frisk capturing all your attention, you’d failed to notice the third voice talking to Sans and Papyrus down stairs. 

You froze on the stairs as you took in the third person standing below, now staring up at you. The silence grew heavy as the monster clad in armor continued to stare up at you and Frisk. 

Sans was the one to break it. “Well, looks like the humans are out of the bag.” He winked up at you to reassure you. It didn’t work. Something about this monster filled you with a dread you couldn’t identify. But it also filled you with rage. You slowly put Frisk down on the stairs beside you. 

“Undyne, don’t be angry, please! They’ve been very nice houseguests and Sans and the larger human are ver-”

You couldn’t focus enough to listen anymore. The rage was too distracting. It felt like it was all you were made up of. It burned up and down your body, filling you with energy and hatred. 

_She’s killed you before… She wants to hurt you and Frisk again._

Flashes of a spear, the one the monster had on her, piercing you again and again went through your mind.  
Frisk was screaming somewhere. 

_You don’t want her to hurt Frisk, do you?_

How could such a little body produce so many tears? Surely Frisk was going to dry up soon. 

The tears mixed in with the blood. 

You were going to dry up soon too. 

_Kill her. Kill that thing before she even gets the chance to blink._

You wouldn’t let Frisk cry that much again. Ever again.  
You let the rage overtake your mind completely, hearing a sadistic laugh ring out from your mouth. That wasn’t you. Wait- What was-

“No!” Frisk screeched, pulling on your hand. “No, don’t! Not again!” 

You threw the tiny hand off you with ease, hands balling up. You didn’t have your knife. You wished you did. Fists would have to do. 

“W- Human? What are you doing?!” Papyrus moved in front of you. You weren’t aiming for him, but if he got in your way, so be it. Frisk had to be protected. 

The monster pushed him out of the way. “I told you, Papyrus! Humans are dangerous!” The monster shouted. She drew her spear. That fucking spear. Your vision blurred even more until you were just focused on that armored thing that dared stand before you, and- 

Sans? 

Sans’ grin was gone completely, his poker face stripped away, and the look of surprise and horror on his face was unrecognizable. He was looking at you as if you were the unrecognizable thing. As if _you_ were the monster. 

You didn’t want to do this anymore. Your sudden lack of will caused your fist to slow, enough for Undyne to strike first, puncturing your soul, your chest with ease. 

You had enough time to gasp at breath and listen to Frisk screaming, screaming. 

_“NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO START OVER!”_

Everything blinked away. 

***********

You woke up, confused. You didn’t recognize the flowers around you. Weren’t you hiking or something? 

Right, and Spot had taken off after a kid who’d run past. You’d run after them too and-

You sat up, painfully. Your chest ached for some reason, and you rubbed at it absent-mindedly as you took in your surroundings.  
You were in a cavern, darkness surrounding you except for the faraway light above from where you’d tumbled. 

There was no sign of Spot, but a soft noise alerted you to the kid a few feet away. 

You scrambled to your feet and hurried over to the kid, crouching next to them. They were sniffling pitifully, obviously just finished up crying. 

“Hey, hey, don’t cry. Everything’s alright, we’ll find a way out of here.” You said, an attempt at being soothing. You patted their shoulder softly. “What’s your name?”

They quieted, looking especially tired at the question. “F… Frisk.” 

You smiled, pleased that they were at least feeling well enough to speak. “Frisk. What a unique name.” 

They wrapped their arms tighter around themselves, shaking their head. “Why did you have to say that?” 

You were afraid you’d hurt their feelings. You apologized. “Sorry, I didn’t mean- It’s a nice name too. I’ve just never heard it before.” 

They shook their head again, faster this time. “It’s never happy when you say that…” They finally met your eyes and whispered hoarsely. 

“Start over.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading!! 
> 
> I thought it would be fun to sprinkle in a few in-depth flashbacks of previous lives throughout the story. Frisk has unfortunately become a bit too much of an expert at knowing how to read when it will be a bad run-through. Poor thing. :( 
> 
> Also just a heads up: I'll be doing Nanowrimo all month, which means I won't be giving this story as much attention as before. I'm not leaving the story unfinished, but the next update(s) will come much later than usual until the month of hell is over.


	6. The Game of Trust and Puzzles

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Reader encounters puzzles along the way to Snowdin, while trying to figure out how Frisk knows what they know.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whoa, look at that I'm a total liar and updated again in the same day.  
> Anyhoo, I just wanted to get this portion of the story out of the way because I wasn't feeling this part of the game, so excuse the bare bones dialogue.

You absolutely loved puzzles. Papyrus’ weren’t exactly challenging like the Sudoku, video games, and other types of puzzles you were used to doing on practically a daily basis, but puzzle definitely weren’t what you were expecting when he declared he was going to capture a human. 

The electric field puzzle had spiked your fear until Papyrus unintentionally gave away the path, and the rest of the puzzles had been pretty harmless too. With everything else you encountered, Frisk, oddly, didn’t want to solve any of them. They would just smile and extend their arm towards it grandly, and waited patiently for you to figure out each one. 

When you inquired as to why Frisk had no interest in solving the puzzles, they’d simply answered, “I’ve done them before.” 

“You’ve done all the puzzles?” You found that hard to believe. You half teased with your next question, secretly hoping they would admit to it, “Or maybe you’re just a psychic, hmm?”

Confusion clouded their face. “What’s a psychic?” 

“Someone who can see into the future. They know what’s going to happen before it happens.” 

Their little arms crossed against their chest, their face screwed up in concentration as they considered the definition. 

“Don’t hurt yourself, kid.” Sans was suddenly behind the two of you.

You both jumped at his sudden appearance. His forever grin grew a little more. “Wow, your bones almost jumped out of your skin,” 

You rolled your eyes. “Wouldn’t that be great? Another two skeletons to deal with.” 

“Heh, it’d be something.” His attention fell beyond the two of you, at what you assumed was yet another puzzle. “I wanted to say thanks for playing along with my brother. It’s really cheered him up to see two humans.”  
“Well, it’s actually been pretty fun.” You weren’t lying to placate Sans when you said that, either. If you had been told before falling into the Underground that you’d encounter giant, talking dogs that towered over you and were always looking to be pet, and that a loud skeleton monster would create puzzles for you to solve, you’d have leapt into the hole much earlier on your own free will. This place was full of unexpected joys. 

“Papyrus is cool!” Frisk chimed in, bringing you back to the conversation. 

“Yeah, my bro is pretty cool.” Sans agreed. “He said he found your dog, by the way. Playing with the other dog he’s always yelling at by one of his puzzles.”

“Sounds like Spot,” You muttered. If there was trouble, he somehow always found his way into it, and usually managed to push you towards it as well. “At least he’s alright.” 

“Oooo, Nice Cream!” Frisk shouted, running over to a bunny monster standing by an ice cream cart. 

You laughed at Frisk’s nickname for ice cream. “Frisk is too cute sometimes.” You commented, mostly to yourself. 

“They’re pretty happy, huh?” Sans met your eyes. 

“For waking up in a strange place without anyone around that they know?” You said sarcastically. “Yeah, they’re doing a pretty good job at being happy.” 

He shrugged. “Maybe their life isn’t much better up there.” 

You hadn’t considered that. Then again, you hadn’t expected the monster world to be so kind. Frisk had been running away from something when you saw them before falling down. 

“Maybe you’re happier down here too.” He pushed. 

Frisk’s footsteps made soft thumping noises in the snow as they skipped back over to you. Their now sticky hand tugged on your shirt as they handed one of the sweets up to you. You turned to them and took the ice cre- wait, no. The label clearly said “Nice Cream”. Well, it was still cute even if Frisk hadn’t made it up. 

“You just met me, Sans, how could you know whether I’m happier down here?” You asked as you opened up the Nice Cream, reading “You look nice today!” on the inside of the wrapper. 

Frisk stopped licking away long enough at their ice cream to say “He left.”

You twisted your head back to where Sans was standing, annoyed to see he’d just suddenly disappeared. You spun around in a circle to see where he’d went off to. But there wasn’t a single footstep left beside yours or Frisk’s. 

“Well, that was rude.” 

Frisk giggled and started walking while they finished the ice cream. “He does that sometimes.” 

“Of course he does.” You bit into the ice cream, surprised at the melon flavor. It looked like vanilla. 

The two of you solved a few more puzzles and encountered yet more dogs (unfortunately none of them yours) and monsters, before finding a bridge. You hesitated before it. Even Frisk looked nervous. 

It was the only way across though. You reached down for their hand and took it firmly in yours. “It’s gonna be okay, Frisk. We’re just going to walk slowly, and take our time.” 

Frisk wasn’t reassured. You were awfully shit at making the kid feel better. You crouched down beside them. Frisk wasn’t the usual, so maybe you should approach this without assuming what was worrying them. 

“Alright, spill. What are you worried about?” You tried to look serious but friendly. “I know it’s not just the bridge.”

They looked surprised at your actions. They stared you down as if waiting for you to pop up and say you were just kidding. 

“I made you a pinky promise, right? I’m not going to do anything to anyone.” 

Frisk nodded slowly. “You did pinky promise.” But they still didn’t look sure. 

“What is it?” You prompted again. 

Frisk looked down at the ground as they talked, their chin tucked against their chest. “’M afraid you’ll get angry anyway… You’ll forget.” 

“Hey,” You whispered, waiting until they looked at you again. “You can trust me, Frisk. We’re going to walk across this bridge together, and I am not going to get angry.” 

“…Okay.” They mumbled, accepting your hand again as you stood up and walked towards the bridge. That wasn’t the most reassuring confidence in you, but it would have to do. Frisk was shivering a little too much after being out in the snow for so long. You couldn’t stick around and wait for better answer. 

You were about halfway across the bridge, with no signs of trouble. Maybe Frisk really was just afraid of heights. 

“HUMANS!” And there it was. Papyrus was standing on the other side, pointing directly at you two. Sans stood beside him, watching. “This is your final and most dangerous challenge! Behold! The gauntlet of deadly terror!” 

Suddenly weapons descended on ropes, aiming directly at you and Frisk in the middle of the bridge. Frisk’s hand gripped tighter around yours, and you could sense their nervousness skyrocket. A cannon, spears, fire, d- Wait. 

“Ar-ARE YOU SERIOUSLY DANGLING MY DOG FROM A ROPE RIGHT NOW?!” You hollered at Papyrus, running forward, dragging Frisk behind you, to get closer to Spot, who was wagging his tail like he didn’t have a care in the world. There was another dog dangling beside him, also looking very much at ease. 

“Yes! He is one of the most dangerous things around here, perfect for the gauntlet of deadly terror!” Papyrus declared. “Now if you could please move b-”

“Get him down now, Papyrus!” You snapped, reaching the edge of the bridge and pushing past him, looking for source of the ropes. 

“I- well- AHEM!” Papyrus posed dramatically. “Of course! That trap would’ve been too easy, not fair at all for capturing humans! I’ll have to go about it with another puzzle!” 

He ran off, and as he disappeared, the ropes lowered, Spot and the white dog landing safely in the snow. The white dog yapped and wandered off, while Spot greeted you and Frisk. You sighed in relief and knelt down to hug him, kissing the top of his fluffy, snow covered head. Frisk was standing over the two of you, patting Spot’s back. 

“Sorry, Frisk,” You mumbled into Spot’s fur. “Guess I got a little angry, huh?”

Frisk was smiling when you looked up at them. “”S okay. It wasn’t the bad kind. It was funny.” 

Another wave of relief washed over you at their response. Thank goodness Frisk didn’t classify that moment. You couldn’t help yourself after seeing your dog like that. 

“C’mon, Spot.” You chided, grabbing his leash. “You’re not getting away this time.”

Sans was still standing beside the bridge, watching. You scowled at him. “You let your brother just do that to dogs?”

Sans shrugged. “The dogs didn’t seem to care.” He raised a hand and pointed at Spot. “By the way, I _spot_ ted your dog.” Wink. 

You couldn’t resist your lips twitching up in a smile, despite how annoyed you were. Damn him for always managing to find your weak spot. 

Frisk sneezed, remind you of how cold it was out here. “Hey, funny guy. Is there a warm place anywhere we can stay?” 

He considered the question, then nodded back towards the bridge. “I’ll show you. I know a shortcut.” 

You weren’t too interested in going back across the bridge, but since Frisk didn’t seem to have any objections, you followed him. 

Suddenly you were standing in front of small house, decorated with Christmas lights. Warm light spilled out from the windows. 

Sans pushed open the door, gesturing for you to come inside. “Welcome to my humble abode.” He crooned. 

Frisk went inside without hesitation, flopping on the couch like they were used to it. You followed, letting Spot off the leash. He barked excitedly and ran around in circles, leaving wet paw prints everywhere. 

Dammit, Spot. “Sorry, I’ll clean it up.” 

Sans shrugged. “We’ve had worse. Don’t worry about it.” He walked up the stairs to the floor above you, calling down. “My brother might show up. He’ll probably make you spaghetti.” Then a door shut, and it was just you, Frisk and Spot. 

“These skeletons are pretty nice, huh, Frisk?” You asked, ignoring the fact that just earlier Papyrus had pointed weapons at you two. When you didn’t get a response you turned to Frisk, finding they were already fast asleep. 

You gently tugged off their wet shoes and socks, placing them near the door. Spot watched as you pulled the blanket over Frisk, then sat beside them , stroking their hair softly. He settled down at your feet. Despite only knowing Frisk for a day, you felt so much closer to them. As you’d known them for months. 

Laying your head back on the couch, you wondered why the brothers, especially Sans, had taken to you humans so easily. They greeted you like strangers, but seemed to act familiar in conversation. Maybe that was just how monsters worked. Toriel had been that way, after all.

You felt your eyes droop, and finally let yourself give in to a little rest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks again for reading, guys! I appreciate it! 
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> **UPDATE 9-19-16**
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> I will _not_ be completing this story. Sorry to anyone waiting for an update, but it's been almost a year and I have no idea where I was going with it. Thank you so so so much to everyone who lefts comments and kudos. The Undertale fandom has always been really great to me.~

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! More chapters will come up soon.


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